Coffee and cake with… Coco Cake Land

Come and meet the most colourful, whimsical baker of them all, the talent behind Coco Cake Land…

From super-cute creations to how her journey even began, we caught up with the bright and beautiful Lyndsay Sung of Coco Cake Land for a good old chat!

When did you first start baking and decorating cakes?

Not until I was in my late twenties! Over ten years ago, I received a pink Kitchen Aid stand mixer for a wedding present which scared me initially. But I finally started using it… and haven’t stopped since! I got obsessed with learning how to make things actually look ‘good’ and not just homemade, ie with a more professional finish.

How did you decide to make it your career?

It happened by accident. I made cupcakes for a friend’s wedding and then decided, hey – maybe I could actually sell these things. I continually tweaked cake and buttercream recipes and then just went for it, and a steady little cake business grew out of my home kitchen. From there, I was also documenting all of my work online on my blog, and more and more people saw my work. Eventually I started freelance writing and creating recipes and photography for other sites, and then started working with brands sponsoring my own posts on my blog cococakeland.com. My career has really gone in waves, and one thing keeps leading to another – my first cake book was published in August. Who knows what’s next – another book, a YouTube show… or maybe something entirely different!

How would you sum up your style and why?

Modern meets vintage buttercream with a heavy dose of cuteness. Vibrant and bright, almost comical sometimes.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

My innate love of super cute faces really fuels most of my inspiration. I’m always snapping pics of cute stuffies or toys I see, or being inspired by children’s illustrations. I love design trends and colour trends in general, I love fashion. Of course, Instagram has amazing visual content, both cakes and otherwise, to continually inspire. It’s overwhelming.

What’s your design process and how long does it take you?

I start every new cake with a drawing. If I’ve never made a design before, this helps me figure out how my cake will look the cutest it can. I have many random sketchbooks full of rough drawings coloured in with my son’s felt tips.

Do you have a ‘typical’ day? Not at all. I wish I did sometimes as having more of a structured daily schedule seems like it would be great! My day depends on what work I have to do, whether I’m baking something that I’ll be photographing for a brand, working on the computer writing a blog post, or editing photos for my blog or Instagram.

What’s the most memorable cake you’ve ever created?

My ‘the very hungry caterpillar cupcakes cake’ design I created in 2009 is still going strong at children’s birthday parties all over the world! To know I created a design that so many little kids or babies have loved is pretty amazing to me.

What’s your advice to upcoming bakers and cake decorators?

Work hard but have fun, build a sharing community of likeminded fellow bakers/cake decorators that you can commiserate with, share ideas with and ask questions of. Always be supportive and try to lift fellow bakers and cakers up.

What are your top three cake decorating essential tools?

What do you think will be the next big trend in cake decorating?

Buttercream is still going strong. I think innovations and techniques in buttercream will continue to interest and influence people!

What’s next for you?

I’m not entirely sure. Right now I’m touring a few cities with my cake book, then I think I’ll sit down and write another proposal as I have a few fun ideas for additional cake books. I’m kind of open to any opportunities that might arise and interest me – podcast, YouTube, TV, or maybe just hunkering down and writing a young adult fiction novel…

We cannot wait to see what Lyndsay gets up to next! Thanks for the chat Lyndsay!